Just a Story?
by Jordiscy
Summary: Jareth interacts with his friend, a black mage, and his true intentions for making Sarah solve the Labyrinth are revealed.
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: Just a story?

**Author**: Jordiscy

**Chapter** 1

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Labyrinth. I do, however, own Jalin.  
**Summary**: This fiction is going to be mainly dialogue and interaction between Jareth and his friend, Jalin, as Sarah runs the Labyrinth. During this time, the true intentions of Jareth making Sarah solve his game is revealed, and the black mage may just drop some interesting surprises in everyone's laps, but who do they benefit? Jareth? or Sarah?

The fluttering of wings echoed against the stone walls of the castle as the signature entrance of the snowy owl flew in through the arched window, only to take form into a human-like being, dressed in a flowing, black cape, matching black leggings, and tall, black boots. His menacing, mismatched eyes grew wide in surprise as he majestically whirled around to see someone else lounged about lazily upon his throne, someone obviously not caring that her skirt had hiked itself up her leg to reveal more than what was considered to be "tasteful" among the faerie folk.

"Nice to see you again, Jareth, King of the Goblins," the woman greeted.

Jareth's sneer turned into a smirk within moments upon recognizing just who it was, though it was apparent that the smile was masking his true feelings of contempt. "It's been awhile, hasn't it, Jalin, Sorceress of the South?"

The single layer to her gray, full length skirt slid back down her legs as she planted her boot-clad feet upon the floor and stood up, allowing her long and wavy brown locks to cascade down her back and over her shoulders. Returning his smirk, her boots clacked on the stone floor as she approached the King, reaching to run her fingers through his wild blonde hair once her hand was in reach. "You know, mullets have gone out of style a few years ago in the Physical Realm."

The smirk on Jareth's face turned to a scowl as he pushed her arm away from his head. "But we are not in that realm, are we? Now state your business." The cape whirled about him yet again as he ventured to the window in which he just arrived through.

"I've been sent by the highland elves," the sorceress replied.

"Oh? Why would the elves have any business with little old me?"

Jalin joined him to gaze out the window, mildly marveling at the magnificence and complexity of the Labyrinth sprawled out in the landscape. "They have noticed some unusual activity within your boundaries, particularly in your Labyrinth. They have also hired me to inquire as to the occasion."

"Leave it to the elves to stick their noses into everyone's business..." Jareth muttered under his breath, though still audible enough for his uninvited guest to hear. "If you wish to know," he said in a louder tone, "then I shall tell you. I have nothing to hide, especially from you, my dear." He gathered up her hand with his own gloved hand, and then placed his lips softly on her knuckles.

She couldn't contain the chuckle that came from her throat. "You can leave out the formalities, Your Majesty. Remember, I am not an elf." Turning her head slightly, she revealed her rounded ears.

"No need to remind me, Jalin. However, I do think that such a powerful witch like yourself still should receive due respect. You _are_ of a dying race among the faeries."

"And you do not have to remind me of _that_, Jareth."

"As you wish." He gestured back to the throne room, away from the window. "Please, take a seat so we may talk of business. Also please pardon the mess my subjects leave in my absence."

Jalin smirked slyly at the Goblin King and rushed before him to take the throne as her seat once again, swinging her legs over the armrests as they once were, skirt sliding up her legs. Jareth managed to keep his objections to himself and opted to pace about the room, hand holding his chin in careful thought. "You see, Goblin prophecy states that one day, a man from the Upperworld will rise up against my race and usurp my reign. I have come to the conclusion that such a man has already been born, and I truly do wish to keep my throne to myself." He paused his pacing and warily gazed upon the mage picking at her locks of hair, sitting in said throne.

"So you're making the first move?"

Continuing his pacing, he answered, "Yes, and no. This man is still in infancy at the moment, and there would be absolutely no fun in killing him off at this stage. Plus, there is the matter of his Guardian..." he trailed off, starting to get lost in his own thoughts.

After a few moments of silence, Jalin had to pry to find out more. "Guardian?"

"You know, one of those protectors, someone to make sure he doesn't die before he gets his job done."

The sorceress's eyes narrowed into a glare. "I know what a Guardian is. What about him?"

"_Her,_" Jareth corrected. "An interesting girl, I should say. She is destined to ensure that he grows up to his full potential to eventually challenge me, but she loathes her little brother. She could wish him gone at any moment now." His eyes sparkled mischievously, and it made Jalin nervous. "I am making the first move in my defense, yes, but not against the boy."

"You plan to woo his sister instead to give you the advantage, no? You are _quite_ the seducer," Jalin commented while throwing a wink towards him.

"I _was,_ until I met you," Jareth sarcastically smiled.

"Hey, I have my reasons for not sleeping with you, Your Majesty."

"Apparently so," he muttered under his breath again.

"Anyways . . ." Jalin nearly growled.

"Anyways," Jareth continued, "I have composed a fantasy novella and placed it under the care of said Guardian."

Jalin blinked a few times and interrupted. "You gave her a bet time story? What in the world will that do?"

Glaring at the sorceress, Jareth continued. "In this novella, an infamous and all powerful Goblin King," he smirked and bowed, obviously referring to himself, "has a habit of whisking away unwanted little boys and girls that have been wished away to be turned into goblins."

"Oh, really? And you expect her to believe this fantastical plot and actually wish your Challenger away to your care?"

"She'll have a chance to gain him back." He snickered before continuing. "However, she will have to solve my Labyrinth if she does play into my little game."

Jalin grinned evilly. "You sneaky bastard. Hasn't your mother told you that it's not nice to take advantage of little girls' fantasies?"

"It's not taking advantage of them!" he assured her in his own defense. "The Guardian will always be presented with the adventure of rescuing her brother, whether I like it or not. I certainly can't stop her, but I sure can make it difficult for her, and I can also try and make her not want to rescue the little twerp."

Jalin placed a finger on her forehead as a physical sign that she was concentrating. "Let me get this straight. You're playing out a game that doesn't really exist and laying down rules that don't apply just so she'll give up her little brother to you?"

"Exactly."

"How fitting for the Goblin King. No wonder the elves don't like you."

Jareth leaned down and lifted Jalin's chin upwards, guiding her to sit upright in the throne and match his two-toned gaze. "This is the part where I remember that you are no elf, my dear."


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you much for the reviews. It's people like you who give me the motivation to continue writing.

In a huff, the dark-clad woman stumbled into the Throne Room atop the castle in the center of the Goblin City. Through her labored breaths she noticed the one who summoned her, hair still in a frenzy, lounging about lazily upon his throne.

Brushing her own windblown hair out of her face with her wrist, she called out to him. "Jareth! What's wrong?" Her eyes cringed as a strand of her hair entangeled itself into her bracelet.

"Wrong?" the Goblin King asked. "I never said anything was wrong." He successfully avoided meeting her glare by occupying himself with twirling a crystal ball around in the palm of his hand.

"Then why the hell did you put the tagline 'URGENT!' into the summoning message!" She sunk to her knees moments before they would have given out under her weight. Long-distance teleportation spells took quite a toll on her physical body, not to mention her mood. "You can't abuse the taglines on these messages, especially to a busy woman like me, Jareth. I came all the way from the iGnome Kingdom/i."

"My apologizes, Jalin." Getting up from his throne and stepping closer to the black mage, he offered the crystal he was momentarily fidgeting with, though Jalin wasn't quite sure if he was merely "fidgeting" or weaving magic into it. "I just thought that you'd be interested in being a spectator." He grinned evilly down at her.

Her breathing was starting to return to normal as she accepted the crystal, quickly casting an identification spell to reveal its secrets to her before some magical trap could ensnare her, not like Jareth would play such an evil trick on her on the first place. Reluctantly smiling back up at him as the spell stated that it was a mere gazing crystal, she attempted to return to her feet, refusing the helping hand the Goblin King offered. "A spectator to what?"

Jareth rolled his eyes. "Why must you ask when you can just see for yourself?"

It was Jalin's turn to smirk at him. "I'm just making sure you're not trying to trick me into watching some tasteless and lewd visual recordings again."

"As well as that prank played out, I would not go to drastic means for an 'urgent' summoning request to do it once more. This is a continuation of business, Jalin."

Leaning up against the cold, stone wall, she held the crystal before her face, gazing into its magical depths to let the spell reveal what was happening beyond her sight. The crystal revealed two women, one obviously younger by a few years, quarrelling with each other. The younger eventually stormed up a staircase with a huff as a third character, a bearded man, entered the scene. "The upperworld? Don't tell me this is-"

Jareth wouldn't let the mage finish her sentence, "It's exactly what you're thinking." He stepped in close to Jalin so their bodies nearly brushed up against one another as he leaned down to also look into the crystal. "I have a strong feeling that the girl will call upon me this very evening, and then my clever little game will start." He grinned evilly, and it was magnified and warped by the clear crystal into something wicked.

"You're a sadistic man, Jareth," Jalin spat as she shoved the crystal back into his chest for him to catch. Sidestepping her way out from inbetween the wall of the throne room and the Goblin King, she made her way to the window to marvel once again at the Labyrinth Jareth ruled over. Imagining a mere mortal girl being forced to brave its mysteries for a mere game made her blood boil under her skin, and she was very tempted to throw a high level fire-type spell in his direction.

Before she could cast, she found his arm over her shoulders as he joined her to look upon the maze. "I've told you that I have my reasons for doing such things. I just choose to make my means entertaining."

Jalin lowered her head and sighed. She hated to admit that he was right in a few instances. If she were in his position, she'd take actions to prevent her seat at the throne from being overthrown too. "The end justifies the means, hm?"

Jareth grinned again. "Exactly."

They both turned at the sound of cluckings and the little patters of feet echoing off the stone architecture to find a rather frantic chicken being chased by a skinny goblin through the throne room, followed by a small horde of other goblins chasing the prior.

"Jareth?"

"Hm?"

"Why are there chickens in your castle?"

Jareth removed his arm from around her and produced his gazing crystal once more. "I wonder. You'll have to ask the goblins on that one. As for me, well, a baby brother needs fetching." Handing the crystal to the mage once more, he whirled around and jumped out of the window they were at. When Jalin leaned out to watch him fall, all she saw was a snowy owl flutter away into the horizon.

"You ought to transform into a chicken!" she yelled after him. 


	3. Chapter 3

It seemed to take forever for the snowy white owl to return to the Goblin City, but the wait was well worth it for the black mage to witness the nocturnal fowl struggling to keep in flight with an oversized and weighted sheet hanging from its talons. Jalin hurried to the window sill upon spotting the King on the horizon, ready to catch the package in tow.

Catch it she did, for the owl dropped its parcel a second too soon, and the sorceress had to lean out the window and nearly topple to the Goblin City below to grab it. "Honestly, Jareth. You ought to take better care of these things," she scolded as the owl situated itself into his humanoid form.

"I want to see _you_ carry something twice your weight against the force of gravity for two leagues," the Goblin King snapped back. "However, the good news is that I got the baby," he sighed as he plopped down into his throne, lazily throwing one leg over the armrest.

"I can see that," Jalin replied, uncovering the white sheet from the bundle now comfortably in her arms. She found tufts of blonde hair on a happily smiling baby boy. He instantly reached up to grab at her long locks of hair, and upon successfully securing some strands in his little fist, he yanked with all the strength his little arm could muster. Jareth had to look up and raise an eyebrow when the sorceress let a few words not befitting for a noble maiden to utter escape her mouth in a yell.

Lowering his head to make it easier for his gloved hands to reach and rub his temples in a circular motion, he continued, "I have a favor to ask of you, my dear."

"Don't tell me—"

"I need you to baby-sit," he cut her off. He could feel her glare burning through his head, but he chose to ignore it. "You see, Sarah will need an escort into the Faerie Realm, and who better than me? I'll need to explain the terms of the game, and things would run much better to plan if I didn't have _him_," he nodded towards the baby, "drooling all over me."

Jalin managed to pry her hair out of the baby's grasp, though a few strands had to be sacrificed. "Sarah? You're calling her by her name now? She must feel honored."

Jareth decided to ignore that too. "I'll leave you a gazing crystal so you may continue to witness this ordeal in the comfort of my castle."

"Hold on a second!" the back mage squeaked as she marched up to the throne and thrust the baby into the king's lap. Jareth had to suddenly sit up and receive the child with an _oof_. "Just how did I get involved in all this mess!"

The Goblin King narrowed his eyes at her and spoke so softly she had to lean in close to him and strain her ears to hear. "You got involved when the elves sent you to shove your nose into my business. _That_, my lady, is how you got involved into this _mess_," he indicated the baby.

Her eyes narrowed into a glare once more. She hated it when he was right. Gathering the baby back into her arms, she gave him a chicken feather that so happen to be laying around for him to fidget with instead of her hair. With her free hand, she held the gazing crystal before her eyes to behold the scene of the human bedroom with one distraught girl wandering around. "You best get going, Jareth. Even though the Upperworld moves at a slower pace of time than ours, there still isn't much time to waste."

Jareth rose from his throne and wrapped an arm around her waist before moving onto the window. "You'd make a wonderful mother, Jalin, dear." With a whirl of his cape and a flutter of white feathers, he was gone.

"There's a reason why mages don't reproduce, you womanizer!" she hissed after him, but then quickly turned to take the now vacant throne for herself. Adjusting the baby into a more comfortable position in her lap, she sighed and leaned her head back against the stone. The baby found the gazing ball and opted to play with that instead of the feather due to the fact it was shinier, but the sorceress didn't mind. She could already guess what was happening and what was being said.

A silently uttered spell cast upon the boy in her lap revealed many things about him to her. "Tobias is your name?" She grinned mischievously to herself. He was appropriately named if he were to live up to his destiny, for the history of such a name told a tale of a human who defeated a demon with the aid of an archangel. "Gods help me if were to be associated with an angel," she nearly spat. "However. . ."

The gears in her head were starting to turn. After prying the gazing crystal out of the tiny hands in her lap, a little magical manipulation forced the ball to reveal to her something other than some boring dialogue between Sarah and the Goblin King. "I bid thee to show me what I desire," she ordered the ball. "Reveal to me those aiding the King in this Labyrinth game."

The crystal glowed green, then faded to a picture of gnome wielding . . . a pump spray gun? "Really, Jareth. We need to work on your sense of taste," she muttered to herself as if the King were there to hear. "Nonetheless, he is now on the top of my list of things to get done!" she announced to Tobias as she gathered herself to her feet.

A teleportation spell was cast, and she found herself just outside of the Labyrinth boundaries in the blink of an eye. Fairies polluted the air as they fluttered about, finding their own forms of mischief. Not a long distance away was the gnome the crystal revealed to her only moments ago. "You there," she called out. The gnome jumped in surprise as he realized that she was addressing him, and she noticed that his knees starting shaking.

"Y- yes, m'lady?" he stuttered as she approached him and knelt down to a knee.

"I understand you're in cohorts with King Jareth to foil a girl named Sarah through the Labyrinth, are you not?"

The gnome warily eyed the baby trying to squirm out of her grasp before replying. "That I am. Hoggle is my name, m'lady. How can I be of service to you?" He clumsily and sloppily bowed before her as he made his introduction.

Jalin stood upright once more and reached behind her back to unclasp a small pouch tied to her waist with her free hand. "I sure hope you admire shiny objects as much as this child here does." She smiled warmly as she handed the pouch to Hoggle, content with her bribery when his eyes grew wide with awe.

"What do I owe for such a treasure?" he asked, knowing how politics work in the Underworld with the fact that there are always strings attached to gifts.

"A favor," Jalin replied as she winced when Toby managed to find another lock of her hair to yank. "When you encounter the girl Sarah, be kind to her. That's all I ask."

Hoggle blinked a few times in disbelief. "That's all?" Surely, there had to be more strings than that bound to the pouch of glittering jewels now in his possession.

"That's all."

"Thank you very much, m'lady!"

"Jalin," she informed him.

"Thank you very much, _Jalin_," Hoggle corrected himself.

"Now, I must be off. I trust that you won't betray me, Hoggle," she smiled again at him, this time with a wink.

"Goodbye, Lady Jalin," he bid her with another untrained bow.

The sorceress turned and started her teleportation spell once more to see two figures in the distance and nestled into the trees. She noticed the glare of the Goblin King fixed upon herself and the baby as he continued talking to the girl accompanying him before the winds of magic whisked her form away and back into the castle.


End file.
